TCR / 12 March 2023

Munnich scores 75th title success for Honda Civic Type R TCR

The Honda Civic Type R TCR secured a milestone 75th major motor racing title last weekend as Rene Munnich became the Gulf Procar Series' TCR champion with a dominant performance at Yas Marina.

The German was in imperious form in the Middle-East with two pole positions, two race wins and a second-place finish proving more than enough to make it back-to-back crowns in the series (which was known as the UAE Procar Series during the 2021/22 season.

Munnich, who trailed his title rival by 21 points coming into the weekend with 131 available, topped both qualifying sessions aboard his JAS Motorsport-built car to close in on the lead.

He looked to have gained even more ground after Race 1 - a replacement event for the January race that was cancelled due to bad weather in Abu Dhabi - in which he grabbed the lead at half-distance and won by five seconds.

A post-race time penalty for exceeding track limits dropped him to second, but with more than 100 points up for grabs in the double-points final races and dropped-scores to come into account, everything was still to play for.

Two wheel-perfect drives were more than enough to enable him to become champion of the TCR division as he eased to a pair of wins.

Munnich's victories provided two extra milestones. Not only did he score his 20th win aboard the Civic in Race Three, making him only the second driver to do so, but in Race Two his team claimed its 40th success with the car - an all-time record (it now has 41).